Pneumatic fire-alarm telegraph apparatus



3 SheetsSheet 1.

(No Model.)

A. GOLDSTEIN. PNEUMATIC FIRE ALARM TELEGRAPH APPARATUS. No. 455,038.

Patented June 30, 1891.

-W|T NEEEEE INVENTOR- (No Model.) a Sheets-Sheet 2.

- A. GOLDSTEIN. PNEUMATIC FIRE ALARM TELEGRAPH APPARATUS. No. 455,038.

1 .9 8 1 fiw 3 e n u v d R P m .N am P Fig 2.

NEEEEE (No Model.) 3 Sheet'sSheet 3.

A. GOLDSTEIN. PNEUMATIC FIRE ALARMTELEG-RAPH APPARATUS.

Patented June 30,1891.

Fig 5.

-WTNEESEE j at the end of the stem UNITED STATES ATENT GFFICE.

ALBERT 'GOLDSTEIN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

PNEUMATIC FIRE-ALARM TELEGRAPH APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,038, dated June 30,1891- Application filed August 6, 1890. Serial No. 361,152. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it ntay concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT GOLDSTEIN, of the city of Baltimore, in theState of Maryland, have invented certain Improvements in PneumaticFire-Alarm Telegraph Apparatus, of which the following is aspecification.

In the description of the said invention which follows reference is madeto the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, and in which Figure1 is a sectional elevation of a part of a building illustrating thegeneral arrangement of the apparatus forming the subject oftheinvention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged front View of the signal apparatus,and Fig. 3 is a side view of the same. Fig. 4 is a detached view, on anenlarged scale, of the piston and cylinder, through the medium of whichthe clock mechanism is started. Fig. 5 is a similar view of theair-compressing device. Fig. 6 is a front view, on an enlarged scale, ofthe stop for the clock mechanism and the means employed to actuate thestop. Fig. 7 is a sectional View of Fig. 6, taken on the line 00 00.Fig. 8 is a detached view, on an enlarged scale, of the circuit-breakingdisk and springpa wl In the said drawings, A A are air-compressingdevices situated at the ceiling of the rooms to be protected. Theseair-compressing devices consist each of a hollow flexible ball a, havingan outlet pipe I) attached thereto at the side next to the ceiling andan attached inverting button a at the opposite side. The ball a isinclosed within a casing (Z, having a tube e leading therefrom, and astem fbears against the button 0. A spring g, confined in a recesshandendwisebetween the bottom of the said recess and a collar ion the stem,serves to force out the stem, and through it and the button invert andempty the ball a of its contained air. A cross-head f, and a lever is,pivoted to a bracket Z, serve to keep the stem in the position shown inFig. 5.

The lever is held in the position shown in Fig. 5 by a wire B, whichpasses through eyes C, secured to the ceiling, and extend around oracross the room, and is finally attached to a stationary point. Thiswire is in sections or lengths connected by link D, formed of two piecesof wire united by solder which is fusible at alow temperature. Links ofany other description, provided they are adapted to detach the lengthsof wire at a moderate rise in temperature. will answer the purposedescribed.

E is a stay-Wire to hold the lever 70 in a vertical position during thestretching or leading of the wire B. F is a fusible link which connectsthe lever k to a stud m on the tube 6. The melting-point of this link islower than that of the links D, and while it prevents the tripping ofthe lever 76 by the accidental breakage of the wire B it will notprevent the operation of the same by the application of heat.

G is a pipe, of lead or other suitable material, which leads from theair-discharge pipe I) to the signaling apparatus, which, as a unit, isdenoted by H. This apparatus consists of a board I, carrying a clockmechanism, whereby a shaft J is revolved. The wheels which lead from thesprings to the shaft Jneed no description herein, as they form only atrain of gearing common in such apparatuses. I

K is a revolving arm forming a part of the clock-movement, with whichthe stop hereinafter described for stopping the same comes in contact. y

L L are small cylinders arranged in a segment of a circle atthe lowerpart of the clockwork and supported by means of the plates 1 M,projecting from the frame of the clock- Work. Each one of thesecylinders is connected by means of a pipe G to'the dischargetube 1) ofan air-compressor.

Referring particularly to Fig. 4., N is a piston in the cylinder Lhaving a stem 0, which passes through a head P and is provided with abutton Q at its end.

R is a segmental plate carried by a lever S, whichis attached to a shaftT, arranged to vibrate easily between the brackets U. This segmentalplate covers the buttons Q of the piston-stems O, and the end ofthelever S when thrown in engages with the revolving 'arm K and stopsthe clock mechanism.

A weighted lever V serves to keep the segmental plate R in contact withthe buttons Q, as shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 6.

WV is a disk or circuit-breaker secured on a shaft J and A is across-arm fastened to the said shaft. One end of this cross-arm isadapted as an index-finger and the other is arranged to come in contactwith any one of the stems O which is projected outward from itscylinder.

B is a segmental plate having numerals or indicating-marks whichcorrespond with the numbers or marks of the different floors or rooms inwhich the air-compressing devices and the wires with fusible links aresituated.

The periphery of the disk \V is notched after the manner of those usedin open or closed circuit-signal calls.

C is an insulated spring-pawl connected to one wire D of an electriccircuit, and the other wire E is attached to any part of the clockmechanism. Electric contact is broken as the spring-pawl enters each oneof the notches. Consequentlyin the revolution of the disk orcircuit-breaker when the apparatus is electrically connected to one ormore recording instruments or registers at the receivinggtations thenumber of the instrument is recorded, showing the building affected. Thedisk is also notched, so that the number of the floor or apartment inwhich the particular air-compressingdevicehas been automatically set inoperation may be indicated.

In the present case the segmental plate B is marked so as to record thecellar and nine floors or rooms, and it has in addition a space to whichthe index-finger has to point when the apparatus is properly set, andwhich is marked 0 K.

The method of securing the cylinders L to the front plate M is shown inFig. l, and it consists in clamping the said plate between the flange aof the head P and end of the cylinder. To remove any one of thecylinders, itis only necessary to unscrew its head, which may then bewithdrawn with its piston and stem, and the cylinder can be taken outfrom the rear. 7

' F is a disk driven in any suitable manner from the clock mechanism,having pins Z) on its face.

G is a lever with a hammer II at its end, and I is a gong against whichthe hammer strikes. This gong, which is sounded in accordance with thealarm, is not necessary and may be omitted from the apparatus.

The operation of the invention is as follows: hen the signalingapparatus is in the position indicated in Fig. 2, it is at rest andready to transmit a signal when the clock-work is set in motion. Aclosed circuit is used, and the signals are transmitted by theintermittant breaking of the circuit. So long as the spring-pawl C is incontact with the disk IV the circuit will be closed and no signaltransmitted. Suppose a fire occurs upon the sixth floor, or, say, room6, the wire in that room is severed by the melting of one of the nearestfusible links in the wire, which releases the particular air-compressingdevice upon the ceiling of the floor or apartment alfected, and theconsequent sudden compression of the air-ball causes the stem ofcylinder Ho. 6

to be projected outward. This stem in its outward movement throws outthe segmental plate R, which is attached to the lever S, and the end ofthe lever is detached from the revolving arm K of the clock mechanism,which is thus allowed to revolve. The disk IV and cross-arm A will alsorevolve and the revolution continue until one end of the arm A comes incontact with the projecting stem of cylinder No. (3. During therevolution of the disk as the notches therein come opposite the pawl Othe circuit will be broken and a signal transmitted for each notch. Inthe present case the disk is notched to indicate 214 as the number ofthe instrument, these notches being duplicated in order to sound orrecord that number twice. They are followed by nine notchesequidistant,intended to indicate the number of the floor or room. \Vhen,therefore, the stem of cylinder No. 6 is driven out, the diskIV willrevolve, transmit the signal fillet twice, and then six consecutivesignals, when the cl0ckwork will be stopped by one end of the crossarmcoming in contact with the projecting stem. The other end of thecross-arm A will then point to the figure 6 on the segmental plateB',thus indicating on the apparatus the number of the room or flooraffected. Any sudden jar of the instrument of sufficient violence tothrow back the segmental plate R, and thus release the clock mechanism,will be indicated by a continuous operation of the apparatus and aconstant repetition of the signal indicating the number of theinstrument and, as in the present case, the arbitrary number 9. Thiswill continue until the clock mechanism runs down or the plate R isreturned to its normal position. The repetition of such a signal by wayof several revolutions also serves as a test-signal both for theparticular instrument as well as for the condition of the outsidecircuit, and the arbitrary number 9 when finally concluded also servesas an automatic signal of O K upon every register connected to the linein respect to such instrument, being again set in its nor mal positionas to circuit when the test is concluded, thereby avoiding any occasionfor the otherwise dangerous practice of cutting out certain registers incases of tests to obviate such test-signals being confounded with.regular fire-alarm signals.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a fire-alarm telegraph apparatus, aseries of air-compressors, a clock mechanism, a stop to control themovement of the clock mechanism, and aseries of tubes leading from theair-compressors to convey air to actuate the stop and release the clockmechanism, combined with a recording-instrument in an electric circuitwith the clock mechanism, and a circuit-breaker also in said circuit,adapted to be operated by the clock mechanism to intermittently breakthe circuit and thereby transmit a signal to the recording-instrument,substantially as described.

2. In a fire-alarm telegraph apparatus, a recording-instrument, a clockmechanism in an electric circuit with the recording-instrument, and astop to control the movement of the clock mechanism, combined with anaircompressor adapted to be operated by the action of heat, a cylinder,a piston Within said cylinder adapted to actuate the said stop torelease the clock mechanism, and a tube leading from the air-compressorto the cylinder to convey air to move the piston, substantially asspecified.

3. In a fire-alarm telegraph apparatus, a clock mechanism adapted tooperate an electric-alarm apparatus and a stop to control the movementof the clock mechanism, combined with a cylinder, a piston Within thecylinder and having a stem adapted to operate the stop to release theclock mechanism, and a tube leading from an air-forcing device to thecylinder to convey air to move said piston, substantially as described.

4. In a fire-alarm telegraph apparatus, a clock mechanism adapted tooperate an electric-alarm apparatus, a stop-lever to control themovement of the clock mechanism, and a plate attached to saidstop-lever, combined with a series of air-compressors, a series ofcylinders, each cylinder having a piston With a stem adapted to engagethe said plate, and

a series of tubes leading from the air-compressors to the cylinders toconvey air from the former to the latter to move the pistons, wherebythe stop-lever is caused to release the clock mechanism for the purposespecified, the arrangement being such that the stop-lever can beoperated by eitherone of the series of air-compressors, substantially assetforth.

5. In a fire-alarm telegraph apparatus, a series of air-compressorslocated in different parts of a'building, a clock mechanism remote fromsaid air-compressors, a stop to control the movement of the clockmechanism, a. series of pistons having stems to actuate the stop torelease the clock mechanism, and a series of tubes leading. from saidair-compressors to convey air to move the pistons, combined with a platehaving distinguishingmarks on it to identify the severalair-compressors, and an arm adapted to be revolved by the clockmechanism, the arrangement being such that when either of the pistons ismoved to start the clock mechanism one end of the revolving arm willeventually come in contact with the stem of said piston and stop theclock mechanism and its other end will indicate the distinguishing-markof the aircom'pressor which actuated the piston, sub-- stantially as andfor the purpose specified.

ALBERT GOLDSTEIN.

Witnesses:

J NO. T. MADDoX, WM.'T. HOWARD.

